Ice
by Charis M
Summary: “She wanted to scream, to kill, to destroy utterly anyone who dared stand against what she held sacred.  But she was the leader of Hellsing, and that kept her steady.”  She will release that final restraint to win her vengeance ...  SPOILERS for Vol 7!


**Ice**  
by Charis

_Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Based off the manga._

_Notes: Exploring what it was that might have driven Integra to release all the seals on Alucard, and then watch with that frightening icy calm as he cuts loose. Extraordinary circumstances indeed. Inspired by the ending of Volume 7, where the last shot we have of Integra, after she gives the order, is with half-lidded, almost downcast eyes, somewhere between grim and perhaps weary._

_Yet if I had to perish twice  
I think I know enough of hate  
To say that for destruction ice  
Is also great, and would suffice ...  
Robert Frost, "Fire and Ice"_

Millennium's first wave had been bad enough. The Valentine brothers had ripped their way through the bulk of Hellsing's forces with an unexpected alacrity, perhaps partly due to the fact that, in her hubris, she had never dreamed anyone would dare attack the heart of her beloved organisation. That first strike had cut her to the bone.

The second cut even deeper.

It was not just her troops, her people - it was everything she stood for and sought to defend, and they trampled over it as blithely as if there had been no resistance. She watched London burning, overrun by Nazi maggots and Vatican slugs, anger rising to the point where she could just barely hold it in check. The fury was, she told herself, quite reasonable; what was left of Hellsing now? Herself, Seras, Alucard ... She had even less idea what remained to be salvaged of the city itself.

And all of that hurt less than the idea that she had failed that which was most sacred to her: her duty. For generations, the Hellsing organisation and the Royal Protestant Knights had defended the shores of Britain against all manner of supernatural threats. And now, once again, the attack had come home, but against all of Britain this time instead of just the Hellsing household. Millennium had been one thing; Iscariot's betrayal was another entirely. She had never _liked_ Enrico Maxwell, certainly never trusted him, but she had thought that perhaps he would have the sense to keep out of this one. So much for that; the mad priest had dug his own grave, and when Alucard had killed him, she would dance on his corpse without regret.

She knew what it was like to see red; it had nothing to do with the blood that painted London or the fire that seared it, or perhaps everything to do with that - because of the crimson and flame, her world became hazed with those same hues as the fury boiled high. She had held it in check for so long, used it to fuel her body, keeping herself awake and alert when weariness wanted to seep into every pore. But surrounded by Iscariot's legions, menaced beyond them by Millennium's freaks, held inept while her city perished, that control trembled. She wanted, above all else, to scream, to kill, to destroy utterly anyone who dared stand against what she held sacred.

But she was the leader of Hellsing - she was all that remained of Hellsing now, she and Seras and, somewhere out there, Alucard. She knew he was still alive, could feel him through the bonds that had sealed him to her - and she could feel his approach. It was only that, and the duty she was determined not to fail any further, that kept her steady.

They would all die for this. Iscariot, Millennium - she would use everything she had, sacrifice her vampires and herself if that was what it took to exterminate them. Both organisations had invaded; it was time for the gloves to come off. There would be no more manners in this war.

The troops were forming up around her. Anderson was arguing with that woman in priest's clothing. Seras, one arm now shadow, stood before her, every fibre of her being tensed for the slightest hint of threat. As she felt Alucard's ship coast down the Thames, Integra Hellsing smiled around her cigar, feeling a measure of that calm restored. Very soon, it would all be over.

_"Give me an order!"_

Cigar forgotten in one hand, she made a broad, sweeping gesture. "Kill them all."

Hell was unleashed. And as the city, which seemed to have frozen in the space of Alucard's arrival, was plunged once more into chaos, she stood and watched. With her fury expended and her enemies screaming their terror around her, she was suddenly cold, and very, very tired.


End file.
